The invention relates to a specially-designed wear pad for insertion between a load to be lifted and the strap, band, rope, wire cable, or chain of a lifting device for protecting both the load and the chain, wire cable, rope, band or strap used for lifting from damage while the load is being lifted. This wear pad includes a generally cylindrically shaped edge protector with a cut out section, which edge protection contains raised edges on the outside surface thereof at each end of the wear pad. The wear pad is designed to be attached to the load to be lifted and remains with the load during the lifting procedure.
Edge protectors for insertion between a load to be lifted and a lifting element, such as a chain or wire cable of a crane, hoist or other lifting device, are well-known in the art, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,793,904, 3,747,341, 4,011,632 and 5,114,101.
In addition, devices specially-designed to protect the chain or wire cable of a lifting device from abrasion during a load lifting operation are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,793,904 and 4,842,914.
A particular design for a c-shaped attachment device, (18) for use with a cable for attaching to and raising long, heavy structural beams is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,143. The device which is used to hold the sling assembly of the lifting device, is a c-shaped attachment device (11) containing a pair of bolts (19, 20), which are designed to be tightened to attach to the load being lifted, such as a steel plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,914 discloses an edge protector (1) for use with a load to be lifted by a lifting device, which comprises a first and second angle arms (5, 6) having interior faces (7) for placement against the load and outer faces (8) which form a continuous c-shaped surface having a guide groove (10) attached to that c-shaped surface for accommodating the wire or chain of the lifting device.
While these devices are useful to assist in the lifting of loads by means of a cable or other lifting device, improvements in such edge protectors are still necessary.
Accordingly, it is an object in the invention to provided an improved wear pad containing a generally cylindrical-shaped edge protector with a cut out section and raised edges on the outside surface of each end of the edge protector.
It is further object of the invention to disclose a wear pad for insertion between a load to be lifted and a lifting device comprising a cylindrical-shaped edge protector with a cut out section containing an attachment element for attaching the edge protector to the load being lifted by the lifting device.
These and other objects can be obtained by the wear pad which is disclosed in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.